Charging storage batteries.



T. A EDISON. CHARGING STORAGE BATTERIES. APPLICATION FILED IAN. I1 I912.

, 1,143,81& 4

Patented June 22, 1915 "STATES Parana orrron enemas a. arisen, or LLaweLLYN rann, wast ORANGE, nrw masnr;

Specification of Letters Patent.

cnancmc STORAGEZBATTERIES.

hppllcation filed January 1'7, 193. Serial No. 671,755;

Be it"knownthat LTHoMAs A.- EmsoN, a

Tacit concern the UnitedBtates, and a,,resident of? Llewellyn Park; Orange, in the county of Essex and" State of New Jersey,

have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Charging Storage Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apime'thod and means of charging storagebatteries, and more particularly storage batteries located along railways which are used to supply cur-. rent to signal and control circuits.

Such batteries are'usually located in the signal towers and semaphores or in battery wells along the track, and one of the objects of my invention is to render it unnecessary to remove the batteries to distant points for the purpose of recharging them.

' '0 her objects of my invention will he hereinafter set forth. T

In the further description of my -invention, reference is had to the drawings accompanyingand forming a part ofthis specifi cation, and in which Figure 1 represents diagrammatically one' embodiment of means for charging a storage battery in accordance with my'invention;

and Fig. 2 represents a modification thereof. Referring to the drawings, and partic u larly to Fig. 1, at 1 and 2 are represented 'trackrails of a railway, and at 3 is represented a storage battery'adapted to supply current to a signalor control circuit 4, 5.

At 6 and 7 are represented chargingftermin'als for the storage battery 3, and these charging terminals may consist of two extra rails on the sideof'the track, raised and insulated therefrom, as is common in'third rail electric systems. The rail 6 is connected. to one terminal .of the battery 3 by a conductor 12, and the rail 7 is connectedtothe other terminal of the battery by the conductor 13.

The length of each of the two charging rails Similar charg may be thirty feet or more. ing terminals are provided for each signal battery along the railw'a'y. On a locomotive or other railway vehicle 8 is laced another storage battery 9, the termina s of which are connected to a double shoe or pair of shoes 10 and 11. The shoes 10 and-11 are adapted to contact with the rails-6 and 7 respectively as the railway vehicle 8 passes the point at which the battery 3 and the charging terminals 6 and 7 arev located. As the train containing thev railway vehicle 8 passes the signal station containing the battery 3, and the shoes 10 and 11 contact respectively with thecharging rails 6 and 7 ,a heavy momentary charge is given to the signal battery 3.

Patented June 22, 1915.

Similarly located chai ging rails are provided for the batteries at each signal station along the railway track, a second such battery being shown at 3 provided with charging rails 6 and 7'. Duringthe pashicle- 8 over a division or portion of the track trayersed 1 n its trip, each of the signal batterles .isgiven a momentary heavy charge.

The number of cells of the battery on the sage of the train containing the railway vetherailway vehicle with-a battery of such a number of cells and capacity that with high speed trains, such as express trains, the rate of chargingis very great, whereas on slow trains, such as 'freight trains, thera'te is less,

but the total charge supplied to a signal batteryduri-ng each periodef contact betweenthe charging rails and the shoes is substantially the same. In this manner the signal storage batteries may be fed with;

more current than is ever -'ven out by" the Working of the signals, an the signal batteries are thus always kept adequately charged. The battery on the locomotive or the railway vehicle 8 may be changed as often as nece ary, for example, once or twice a month, at a terminal station; This a battery may also be used in connection with the lighting system of the train, as for example,"to lightQthe electrieheadliglgt forthe locomotive. At 8' 2 is shown a second locomotive or railwayvehicle provided with a charging battery.

Instead of employing two extra rails 6 and 7 for charging terminals, -a' single rail and fone or more of the track rails may be employed for this purpose. For example,

the rail 7 and the shoe 11 may. be dispensed with. In this modification asillus trated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, one terminal .of the battery 3 is connected to the charging. rail 6 by the conductor 12 and the other terminal of the battery 3 is connected to one or more of the track rails 1 by the conductor 13'. One terminal of the battery 9 is connected to a shoe 10 adapted to contact with the rail 6 as the vehicle passes the said rail, and the other terminal'of the battery 9 is connected by a conductor 14: to some part of the vehicle 8 or an attachment thereto in electrical contactwith the track rail 1. In Fig. 2 I have illustrated the conductor let connected to the vehicle axle, through which electrical connection is made to the track rails. WVhere this modification is employed, like poles of all of the signal batteries located along the railway are connected to the track rails 1. OtherWisethan as stated herein, the arrangement of apparatus is the same in Fig. 2 as in Fig. 1. In

both modifications the shoe "10 and the rail i are connected to like poles of the batteries. Storage batteries of the Edison type, such.

as are described in my prior patents, are particularly adapted for use in the system hereinbefore described, inasmuch as batteries of this type are capable of discharg mg and of being charged at enormously high rates, and are not injured by such high currents or by overcharging.

llaving now described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows 'e' 1. The method of charging storage batteries located at intervals along a railway,

which consists in providing a suitable ve hicle with-a source of current, and connecting each of the batteries to the said source duringthe-period of time occupied by the railway .vehicle in passing over a shortdistance predetermined for each battery, substantially as set forth.

The method of charging storage batteries located at intervals along a railway track. which consists in supplying current to each of the batteries from sources carried by passing trains, the rate of charge from each such source being inversely. approximately proportional to the average speed of the train carrying it, substantially as set forth.

3. In a system of the class described, a

railway track, a plurality of storage batteries located at intervals along said track,

and a charging terminal for each of said storage batteries adapted to contact with a contact terminal located upon a railway vehicle during the passage of the vehicle thereby, substantially as described.

4. In a system of the class described, a railway track, a plurality of storage batteries located at intervals along said track,

and a pair of conducting rails for each storage battery located parallel to the track and insulated therefrom, each of said pairs of rails constituting charging terminals for the storage battery associated therewith, substantially as described.

In. a system of the class described, a railway track, a plurality of stationary storage batteries located at intervals along said track, a railway vehicle adapted to travel on said track and provided with a storage battery having a terminal contact and containing a greater number of cells than any one of said stationary storage batteries, and a charging terminal for each ofsaid'storage batteries, said charging terminals being in t fixed relation to the track and adapted to contact with the terminal contact of the storage battery of the railway vehicle throughout predetermined distances of travel of the railway vehicle, substantially as described.

6. In a system of the class described, a plurality of storage batteries located at intervals al mg a railway, circuits connected to be supplied individually from said storage batteries, and charging terminals for said storage batteries adapted to be electrically connected to a battery carried by a railway vehicle during the passage of the vehicle thereby, substantially as described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 12th day of January, 1912. I

- THOS. A. EDISON.

1 Witnesses:

HENRY LANAHAN, ANNA P. KLEHM. 

